


They Paved Paradise and Put Up a Parking Lot

by Lilylovesbones



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Minor Violence, OOC Lancelot, Unrequited Love, not graphic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-08
Updated: 2016-06-08
Packaged: 2018-07-13 20:51:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 14,472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7136636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lilylovesbones/pseuds/Lilylovesbones
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Somehow he had fallen in love with her, but now it's too late. When a certain blonde-haired lawyer relizes that he might be loosing the love of his life to his worst enemy, one Lance DuLac, his plan of ruining their wedding is set in action.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Beginning

Somewhere along the line, he had fallen in love with his little sister's best friend. He had known her for years, twenty to be precise, and yet it took him almost fifteen to realize she was more than just a curly little thing with a cracking voice. So watching her showing off her newly acquired engagement ring on her small finger was a rather painful situation to deal with.

Had he acted sooner, he might've had a chance with Gwen: but Lance – charming Lance, handsome Lance, the same Lance he had hated since elementary school for picking up on his little step-brother – had knocked her off her feet and now asked to be his forevermore. Arthur Pendragon wasn't one sensitive bloke and, most of all, wasn't one of those boys who show their feeling easily. So seeing both his sister and brother staring painfully at him was getting rather frustrating; he had to get out of that place but there was a tiny little problem: that was his place, too.

He could have easily come up with an excuse and asked his brother to pack everyone up at the end of the party and close the house. Or he could just say that there was a case that needed to be finished before the morning, but nobody would've believed him: unfortunately he never left the office without being sure that every file was perfectly closed.

"There" Gwaine, Gwen's older brother, passed him some keys: "These are for my place. Just go there, nobody will come search for you."

"What are you talking about?" Arthur questioned with a panicked look.

"Mate, just go. Marlin made up an excuse for you: that would be easier than explaining Lance's murder, don't you think?"

Arthur frowned and got the keys into his pocket. He turned to see his sister talking to the lovely newly-engaged and Marlin simply looked at him and gestured to go, mentally adding he was going to call him later.

He left the house and headed to his parked car, starting the engine with fury: why was he so damned slow? He was taught since childhood that a great lawyer never lets his feelings visible, but sometimes that just complicated his life so much. Arthur believed his father to be the smartest man on Earth, but his early life lessons really had an horrible impact on him.

Gwaine lived in Belgravia, having inherited a rather large flat from his maternal grandfather after his passing; that was indeed the perfect place to cool off and think lucidly about things. Gwen was his friend , after all, and if that disgusting Lance made her happy, then he would have to shut up and help out during the wedding preparations. And maybe create some trouble to the happy couple.


	2. Losing Breath

"Remind me again why are we here?" 

Sometimes his little brother could be a real pain in the butt. They were off to some adventure around the new house, the one his father had bought after marrying Marlin's mum, and yet he had to stop every two minutes to ask Arthur about what they were going to do.

He would've probably killed him if Morgan and Gwen hadn't been with them; the girls had joined them unexpectedly because they were getting bored of helping out, so they simply slipped into the little tour of the place.

"We're just looking around. To get acquainted," Morgan repeated rolling her eyes, giving a desperate look to Gwen. They had been friends forever, Gwen and her, she was the best friend she could've ever wished for, always by her side no matter what. She had been there since her mum had taken off with the waitress and was the most loyal person she knew, aside from her brother.

"If you ask again, Marlin, I swear I won't be able to answer for my actions," Arthur muffled trying to get his foot out of a tree root: he was going to burst out in frustration when he felt two little hands take his foot out, pulling it from its trap. The boy looked down and saw the little dark-skinned girl smiling up at him.

"My brother always gets stuck back at home. I have to help him out before he ruins the plants," Gwen explained while turning again her attentions at Morgan, who was now complaining about her brothers' lack of motion "Don't worry, I'll keep up with her," she said and then took off.

That was the first time Arthur Pendragon witnessed Gwen's kindness.  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Remind me why we're here!"

Although years had passed, his brother Marlin never changed: constantly bothering him and making his life a living hell. But Arthur had to admit that, without him, he would've probably ended up badly already. After all, his little brother was inexplicably wise for his young age and was always able to tell if something was wrong with his siblings. No matter what was hurting or annoying them, he would find a way out.

"Gwen's asked me to come because she needs some advice on the dress, considering Morgan's out of town," he said.

"Oh…good. Just promise me something: after seeing her in the wedding dress, don't go home and kill yourself," he said with a sad look on his face "You know I have no time for a funeral nor have I a suitable suit for the occasion."

"I love you too, brother. I wonder how your wife manages to cope with you."

Marlin smirked thinking about his wife: his Freya was three months pregnant and now that the first trimester scare was over, they were planning on telling the family. He could already see the little girl or boy at their place.

"Hello, boys!" Gwen gently welcomed them in front of the dress shop. She was wearing a simple pair of beige trousers and a with blouse along a small yellow purse: even thus, she took Arthur's breath away.

"Hi" both Arthur and Marlin bent to kiss her cheeks and then the blonde one opened the shop's door. The torture was beginning.

Two hours and many dresses later, Marlin had had enough. He loved Gwen like a sister, he truly did, but that was absurd: she had tried half the shop because she always found something wrong about the gown she was wearing. Arthur wasn't that much help, he would just stare in awe every time she exited the fitting room. Now it was time to act, he had to get out. He started standing up and picking his jacket up from the floor.

"What do you think?" she came out again, an ecstatic look upon her lips.

"Wow" was all he managed to say; she was definitely wonderful, more than he ever expected her to be: he had to admit she even looked prettier than Freya and that he now understood his brother.

"You look," Arthur started "You look amazing."


	3. Screw Destiny

Plan 1: spread rumors so terrible she has to leave him, no quetsion asked.

Plan 2: have Arthur tell Gwen how he feels and hope for the best.

Plan 3: kill Lance and get it over with.

As much as both Gwaine and Elyan loved plan 3, Marlin knew that was not something that could be done without risking a life sentence. Out of the four in the room, he was the only one really thinking about a way to help his brother out of his pain and desperation, and his mind was literally blowing up for the mess inside.

Ok. His brother, the dollophead Arhur, had been in love with Gwen since the age of seventeen and everybody, except the ones who were interested, knew it, had always knew it: they could see it in his eyes that there was something, a certain longing towards her figure that was always too well hidden by his cockiness. She had that look, too. At first, Marlin believed her to be fascinated by the older boy, he was one of the few brothers of her friends that always treated her right But then he just knew. Gwen and Arthur were meant to be together.

Unfortunately, his stupid step brother was a rather slow person in the feelings department. And now he had to sort it out for him.

"Guys, stay focused. Ok, so: what do we know?" Marlin asked to the boys surrounding him.

"That it's over, considering the wedding is one month away," Arthur said coming back from the kitchen with a jar full of crisps "I'll just be a spinster forever and I'll watch them have enough children to make up England's next football team."

"I never knew you were going to give up so easily, mate," Gwaine said hitting him on the shoulder and trying to take a crisp out of the jar, just to be welcomed by a loud guttural roar coming from Arthur's throat.

"Don't do it. Just don't," Marlin said, a worried look creeping on his face "Trust me, if you want to keep your fingers, you just stay away."

Elyan looked over his brother and just smiled: he loved all those boys, they were his family. He had grown up with them, lived every single day of his life supported by those four fool. Gwaine and him had a bet when they were children; the oldest used to say that their little sister was going to be an heartbreaker and that Arthur was going to be the unfortunate victim. Elyan actually hoped for Marlin as he was, after all, the wisest and brightest of the two and would have made a perfect match for his kind and sweet Gwen.

But then, destiny is not always what you want it to be. When that Lance bloke came in the picture, both the brothers started to be worried: he didn't belong to their group, he didn't fit in with the foolishness they hid into their minds. He wasn't right for her, while Arthur was the best. Being her complete opposite and able to make her smile whenever she was sad.

So now it was their turn to make things right. Screw destiny.


	4. Pump it Up

It looked like he hadn't slept in days, and maybe he really didn't, his memory wasn't helping him at the moment, so he didn't remember if he had crashed on his bed during the past 48 hours. Arthur knew one thing for sure: when the doorbell rang, every hope of a good night sleep were gone.

The constant ringing was giving him an headache, he had to remind Morgan not to let him drink when he was depressed or he wouldn't have been able to give his best for his cases.

"I'm coming," he yelled at the door "No need to wake up the whole building."

"Arthur? It's Gwen," a voice said from behind the door and he magically threw himself to the knob and opened to let the girl in. She had tears streaming down her face, which was already odd, considering Arthur had never seen her cry throughout their whole friendship. He instinctively put his left arm around her shoulders and led her to the couch: they sat there and he kept shushing her, trying to make her calm down and breathe normally. When she had calmed down, he stood up and headed to the kitchen to get her a glass of water.

"He called it off. He called the bloody wedding off," she said in a cracking, angry voice and his heart couldn't help but skip a beat and grow in hope.

A FEW HOURS EARLIER

"And I told them we were going to talk to the priest: maybe you'll be able to convince him," Gwen said cheerfully putting a dish full of Niçoise salad in front of Lance "Honey, are you even paying attention to me?"

"I'm sorry, darling, what did you say?" Lance asked finally connecting his eyes to hers.

Gwen had noticed he looked distracted lately, his mind always so far away from the little East London flat they had shared for the past six months. She believed him to be stressed because of work and worn out by the wedding preparations; the best way to deal with the situation was letting him do what he felt like the right thing. But ignoring her and missing out every important bit of conversation was starting to make her feel completely invisible to his eyes. If that was the man she was going to marry there were certain things that had to be cleared.

"What is wrong with you?"she asked angrily "I'm aware it's a bad period for you at work, but would you please listen?"

"I said I'm sorry," he got up from his chair so fast that it fell on the floor. The noise made Gwen slightly jump, sending shivers down her spine and scaring her, this was the first time he had ever reacted badly towards her.

"Will you tell me what is wrong?" she asked trying to calm down "And please, don't lie. You know I hate it when you do."

"Oh, right, because little Gwennie can't be lied to. Perfect little Gwennie," Lance said pouring some whisky into a glass.

"What happened?"

"Do you want to know? Seriously? Well, today my lover," a look of shock upon her face "Told me I knocked her up."

"Your…your lover? What are you talking about?" she asked slowly sitting down on a nearby chair.

"Oh, did you really think you'd be enough for me?" he asked sneering

"Then why did you propose to me? Tell me! Tell me!" she stood up and started hitting her on the chest. He pushed her back, making her fall to the ground. He came out of his state of anger and bent down next ton her.

"Are you ok? I'm so sorry!"

"I believe you. Now," she pulled herself up using the couch while rubbing her back "I think I'll leave."

"Gwen, wait!" he stopped her by the wrist but he immediately released her when he saw the hate in her eyes.

"Bye" she said.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Wait, you fell? Are you hurt? Let me get some ice." Arthur stood up and headed for the fridge: he should've some ice there, he needed it every time he came back from the football match to calm down the pain.

"Not really," she said cleaning up her eyes into her shirt "Not physically, at least. He proposed!"

Arthur was disgusted. He knew Lance was no good, but cheating on the best girl in the world was beyond horrible. He sat beside her , soothing her and making her relax, texting Marlin and Morgan to come over and bring the boys.

It was now time to deal with him and seriously: have Morgan calm her down while he worried to break every single bone inside his body.


	5. Are you Dumbledore?

They were all messed up, and not in oh-we-will-work-it-out kind of way. They were literally, completely messed up. Gwaine was on the floor, looking at his hands as if they were the weirdest things he had ever seen, Elyan kept on laughing at the red fish gently swimming in it's bowl over the table and Marlin was…well, Marlin was really focused on an old picture of their late grandfather (although Arthur should say HIS grandfather, being Hunith's dad), Gaius.

"Grandpa, you never told me you were Dumbledore!"

Arthur rolled his eyes and tried to stand up, only making his headache even worse, so he decided to postpone the standing up while focusing on remembering what had happened the night before.

"Are you sure I can leave you alone?" Gwen smiled gently and nodded.

"I'm fine. Plus, I can't keep you away from your beloved Arsenal, can I? It would be like asking you to give up eating your mum lasagna!"

Arthur smiled, only Gwen could make a comparison between his favourite team and his mum's food, something he could never betray, not for all the gold in the world, for it was the most delicious thing he ever had the pleasure to taste.

He grinned like a fool and hugged her for longer than necessary "You only have to phone me, or Marlin, or your brothers: whistle and we'll all be back, ok?"

She hushed him out of the door and leaned on it when it was closed. She really appreciated the fact that Arthur had volunteered to host her while she was looking for another place; the house she had been sharing with Lance belonged to his late father and she couldn't possibly stay there, since the wedding had been called off.

Living with Arthur wasn't as bad as she had imagined; he was actually really tidy and hardly ever allowed her to clean up when they were done doing anything together. He would usually tell her they would think about it the morning after, wait for her to be back in her bedroom and then fix everything up before seriously going to sleep. Then he would come home and cook! The last time she had seen him near a oven the kitchen was nearly destroyed (who knew you couldn't heat plastic up without it melting?) and they would talk until sleep started shadowing their eyes. His wife was going to be really lucky someday.

"Oi, mate! How's my sister?" Gwaine hugged him, proving immediately to Arthur that some drinks had already made their way into his friend's body. Elyan and Marlin were sitting into their usual booth sipping an ice cold beer while watching bemused their tipsy companion.

"Thought you wouldn't be here, brother! How come you left Freya home alone?" he sat next to his brother and stole the glass from under his nose.

"She's not alone, Morgan's with her. Looks like father will have to pay for another wedding soon" Marlin said, looking intently towards his brother.

"Unbelievable: dear old Leon has proposed? How long has it taken him? Eight years?"

"Said by the man who's living with the love of his life and doesn't plan to ever tell her," Elyan stepped into the brothers' talk and passed Arthur his own pint "That's on me. I still don't know how you do it. And she's my sister, which means I should be worried sick."

"As if Artie here would ever hurt our Gwennie!" Gwaine came stumbling back to their booth crashing on his brother.

Arthur looked down puzzled, welcomed by the usual "Fought with Vivian" look that was used as an explanation whenever he behaved like this.

"What about?"

"Looks like my sister-in-law wants to file for divorce," Elyan said "Smart one, little Vivi. Would have been smarter if she hadn't married him at all."

They all laughed it off. Since the beginning of the year, Gwaine had been threatened five times and it was barely April: the boys could really understand that poor woman, being married off to their friend when she was twenty and crazily in love to then find herself with two terrible four-years old twins and a sometime-terrible husband, too.

"Don't worry, she'll calm down," Marlin said.

The match had been one of the best they had ever witnessed, creating an enthusiasm that led the four young men to a high consummation of alcohol. By eleven thirty, none of them could think clearly, all too busy laughing like idiots over nothing.

"Ok, ok, ok. What about a round of truth and dare?" Marlin asked giggling slightly when his brother fell over his feet, landing on his face and grinning madly.

"Yes! Ok, let's start with Artie" Gwaine screamed.

"Oh, why me?" Arthur asked trying to stand up.

"Dunno, just want to start with you! So, truth or dare?"

"Fine. Dare!" Arthur yelled din response.

"Well, I have the perfect one! I dare you…to phone my sister and tell her how you feel!"

"Challenge accepted"

"So…Guinevere, I know…I know it will sound strange but, but I love you. I know it comes out of the blue, at least for you, because I've known for years, I just…just couldn't tell you. I've known since the first time you entered my house, the very first time I set eyes on you" the voices of Gwaine and Elyan could be heard in the distance " I was just too coward to tell you. You are beautiful and gentle and stubborn and bright and everything I could ever whish for and I want you to know. Maybe , most likely, you don't feel the same, but you needed to be told. I…I love you"


	6. Spawn of the Devil: Part I

He was in love with….her? How? He, Arthur Pendragon, could've had so many girls, all of them, to be precise, and yet he just told her he was in love with her, Gwen Leodegrance. He must've been drunk, seriously so. Definitely. The message he had left on the answering machine (she was having a relaxing bath. Who could blame her?) was alcohol talk, that's it.

There was no other plausible explanation.

Tok tok.

Gwen stood up from the couch where she had been sitting for the past three hours after a sleepless night and headed to the door.

"Guinevere?"

Speak of the devil! 

She opened the door and found in front of her this giant of messy blonde-haired man that was her Arthur. Since when was he hers? 

"Why did you knock?" she asked

"I didn't know how would you react after…" he didn't finish the phrase, it wasn't necessary.

"After your message?" she suggested "Come on, you need to get changed and a shower."

He entered his house and hanged the jacket and scarf that he was holding, keeping his head down and trying not to look at her in the eye. Arthur got into his room and started moving around, trying to find his home wear to get changed into.

Gwen kept following his every move, focusing on the speech she had prepared during the night: I love you, but in a friend way; I just broke up with Lance, I couldn't possibly start a new relationship this soon, etc.

Oh, bother! Who was she kidding? This was Arthur, cocky Arthur, Morgan's older brother. Arthur, who was always ready to tease them whenever he felt like it and yet first in line whenever someone tried to do the same. She had been in love with that boy for years, she couldn't possibly ignore what he had told her. But what if what he had said was really the result of too much drinking? What if he didn't feel that way?

Arthur had stopped in his track when he had realized she had been staring for the past ten minutes while leaning on his door. She was looking around, never focusing on one single spot but always changing the direction of her stare.

What the hell, Gwen! And then she moved.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Marlin was dead tired and just wanted to crash on his bed, maybe hugging his wife in the meantime. Yes, that's what he would do: he would get home, get in the shower, slip into his PJ's and ask Freya to join him for an afternoon nap. Uther had called right when he left Gwaine's flat to tell him he wasn't needed at work that day because he would be taking Hunith on a little field trip. If that wasn't destiny!

He parked the car right in front of his small little house in St. George's drive and smiled when he saw his wife coming out.

"Where are you going?" he asked, gently kissing her cheek.

"Meeting with Vivi and Elena. I have to break the news to them," she said "About that: have you told your brother?"

"Ehm…actually, we had some sort of Gwen-drama and had to deal with it. I'll tell him as soon as I see him."

"I guess I could still postpone telling them. But, please, tell him fast because it won't be long before people start noticing."

Marlin grinned down at her belly and caressed it before kissing her again "Promise. I'll be home all day, so if you need me, just call."

Freya nodded, took the car keys from his pockets and headed for the car.

He was entering home when she said "There's a letter for you on the table! Love you!"

"Love you, too"

The house was clean, as every time his wife had time to clean after his mess. It didn't take him long before being completely ready to sleep, but then he remembered the letter.

"Where could that be…AHA! There you are"

He opened it, his smile growing after every line he finished. Now they had the perfect way for bringing Lance down. Well, his brother had to wait for the news: his sleep was more important.

Gwaine Leodegrance was utterly miserable. Here he was, a grown married man, standing under his house's window begging for his wife to take him back. Again.

"Vivian, please!"

"No way," the blonde haired woman yelled "You shouldn't have done this, not to me"

"But I don't even know what I've done! If you could just tell me!"

He wasn't having any luck, his half could be really pig-headed when she wanted to: God, he loved that woman! Perfect match, always thought so.

"Daddy!" one of the twin (blondish hair, mark on the eyebrow…Gaheris, that was Gaheris). He was leaning out the window, dangerously out the window.

"Get inside!" Vivian screamed worried, her mother's instinct kicking in.

"Daddy! We're having a babeeeeeeeee" He yelled out of his lungs.

It took some seconds processing the news: he was going to be a father. Again.

Blimey, that was great news; that probably was the reason why Vivi was mad. She said she wanted to wait before having new children.

His face lit up with an idiot smile, to then realize that Gaheris was half-way out the window. He ignored Vivian's scream and took out the keys from his pocket, bursting inside his house and running into the twins' bedroom to get his son back inside.

"Be careful, lad!"

"You got him?" Vivian came inside with their other boy, Gareth. He lifted his son up and showed him proudly to his mum. She smiled, relieved.

"Is it true? We're having another one of this?" he said pointing down to the twins, now busy talking about how cool their new toys were.

"Yes, we're having a new child of the devil" she confirmed. He just hugged her and started laughing like a fool.

Meanwhile, in a little flat in Lambeth, a newly-formed couple shared its first night of passion. Little did they know that a man in a nearby building was looking at them through a binocular.


	7. That's what Friends are for

"Marlin called. He said we have to meet as soon as possible," Arthur said kissing Gwen's temple and passing her a cup of strong coffee, as she had always liked it to be " Do you want to come with me?"

"Uhmmm, stay home and spend the whole day watching sappy films, or passing my day with the horrible Pendragon brothers…"Gwen said smiling, looking at Arthur from behind the cup to then stand on her elbows and kissing him on the lips "I think I'll be coming with you two for a while, and then meet with Freya and Vivi."

Arthur smiled happily when she kissed him, still shocked by the sudden development of their relationship: just two days ago, he had confessed his love to her and expected their friendship to be over. Instead he got home, got changed to then be undressed again by an eager Guinevere, both consumed by a long-hidden passion.

"Perfect," he hugged her from behind, resting his head upon her shoulder and placing gentle kisses on her neck.

"But if you don't let me go I can't get changed."

"Well, we can't let that happen. What about getting changed together?" Arthur didn't wait for a response: he simply lifted her up and carried his Gwen to his *their* bedroom.

One and a half hour later, the couple was strolling down the street hand in hand, slowly walking to the café where they usually met the other members of their group. Gwen was smiling broadly when they got there, and Elyan understood immediately that something great had happened to his baby sister. Taking a better look, he realized that Arthur was wearing the same look on his face (and the hand holding was some sort of a giveaway).

"Unbelievable. How long did it take you? Twenty years?" Elyan stood up from his chair and greeted his sister with a bear hug.

"Something like that," Arthur confirmed "Where's that idiot of my brother?"

"Watch it dollophead! I could easily destroy you," Marlin appeared from behind the couple holding some cups and cupcakes on a tray "See, I even bought you your favourite," he said to Gwen.

"How did you know I would be coming?" she asked quizzically.

"Sixth sense or something."

They stood there chit chatting for half an hour, waiting impatiently for Gwaine and Vivian to arrive. As usual they excused themselves saying that no one wanted to baby sit the twins, not something hard to believe, considering that they all had given it a try and failed miserably keeping them calm or safe. Those two kids were definitely the perfect blend of their parents' worst feature. Plus, they had decided to give out the news about the new family addition, which lead to another good twenty minutes wasted in congratulations made by every single one of them.

"So, what did you call us in for?" Gwaine inquired after the girls left for a round of shopping.

"You remember I'd told you about that friend from Oxford that now works at Scotland's Yard? Well, he sent me a reply about that…. research about Lance," Marlin said to then reach out for an envelope inside of his bag "Our Lance, as we all know, comes from a less-fortunate family"

"You sound dad when you say so," Arthur said smiling.

"Fine, now shut up. Well, it looks like that he has tried very hard, during the past few years to hide something from his past. He was jailed for two years for selling drugs"

The three men looked at each other in disbelief, they couldn't believe Lance-the one they thought they knew so much- had lied to them. And considering Gwen had never mentioned any of it, he had probably kept it from her, too.

"He probably did it for money," Arthur stated simply "He needed them and had to earn some for his family, too. I can see why he did that."

Arthur told them that their Bring-Lance-down mission was over now that he had Gwen: hurting Lance wouldn't have helped his relationship with the woman he loved and so they had to abandon every plan.

"But.."

"No buts Gwaine. You heard Arthur: he's happy with Gwen and that's final," Elyan said "Plus, now you'll have more time to focus on Vivi and the baby,"

At those words, Gwaine seemed to have left the room as if something magical had captured his attention. Arthur, Marlin and Elyan looked at his and simply shook their heads.

"Every time we mention Vivian, he behaves like this. You remember when he was told they were having twins?" Marlin said.

"Oh, right. Worst week of my life," Elyan said smirking.

"Shut it, you left right after he told us." Arthur said "Marlin and I had to stand him for five months after that while you were enjoying some model back on the continent."

Elyan smiled at the memory "Actually I was in Ibiza, which is an island, my dear Artie."

Arthur simply rolled his eyes and hit him playfully on the shoulder. They tried to bring Gwaine back to the conversation, but the gave up after ten minutes: they just called Vivian, told her that her husband was still at the café and that she could come and get him whenever she wanted.

Elyan excused himself ten minutes after leaving his brother behind , he had to attend some photo shoot on the other side of town.

Arthur and Marlin walked around the old neighbourhood they grew up into: they could still remember the snowball fights with Morgan in tow during wintertime, or their mother calling after them when they were supposed to head back home and didn't want to.

"Can you believe it? Gwen and I?" Arthur asked gleefully.

"Wouldn't have bet on you two. You can be so stubborn when you want to, and always want to speak your mind, even when you're wrong. And…"

"Got it, got it! We can be pain in the butt when we want to."

"Freya's pregnant." Marlin mumbled.

"What? My sister-in-law's pregnant and you tell me like this? Really, brother, you amaze me every time," Arthur approached him and hugged him "I'm happy for the two of you."

"I just didn't know how to tell you. Freya ordered me to say today, but I wanted you to be the first one to know: you're my brother after all, my best friend. If I didn't tell you first, then who?"

"Morgan?"

"Not the same. Yes, she's my sister, but she's not you," Marlin said "You know, if you stop hugging me we won't die."

"Right, right. Sorry. I play dibs on godfather!"

"You'll already be his uncle!" Marlin grinned at his brother's enthusiasm. "I think that'll be enough."

"You might be right. Wait…did you say his? It's a boy?"

"Glyndwr William, or so Freya says"

"Poor chap, my nephew!" Arthur said, jokingly.

They kept walking 'til Arthur's flat, there was a match they wanted to catch on the telly and Freya had stopped buying beer since she was told about the pregnancy, which lead Marlin to accept immediately his brother's proposal about the football match.

"Well, well, well…the Pendragon brothers"

"Lance?"they said in unison.


	8. Memory Lane

Arthur was tired. Very tired. He had just come over from football training and one of his team-mates had had the great idea to make him fall onto the ground, face first. He was now sporting a beautiful deep cut right under his left eye and one of his teeth would never be the same, plus his legs felt so heavy Arthur still wondered how he managed to get home safely.

Marlin was out for some sort of scientific conference their father (after nearly nine years, he had learned to share him) had signed him up to while Morgan had been planning all morning long a shopping trip with Gwen. Which meant he was alone at home and no one to ask to for help while doing his homework; he already hated Maths, but knowing that neither his brother or Gwen were there to help him, that just drove him more upset than ever.

"Arthur?" That was Tom, Gwen and Elyan's dad, yelling from the street for him.

"Tom! Nice to see you," Arthur welcomed him inside of his house with a broad smile, he was family by now that both his children spent so much time at his place when Tom had to work at his restaurant.

"How are you, my boy?" He asked. After receiving a positive response from Arthur, he continued "Listen, can I ask you a favour?" the boy just nodded.

Tom headed for the door and opened it, revealing a tall, brown-haired man around his age standing there waiting "This is my other son, Gwaine. I was wondering if you could show him around."

"Of course. Just let me get my jacket," Arthur said, thanking whoever sent this Gwaine for keeping him away from his homework.

He joined Gwaine in the entrance and went out the door into the street. They kept silent for a while, interrupting the awkward moments with short questions and answers on both parts. From what he knew and learnt, Gwaine had lived with his mother since he was seven, which means since his parents' ugly divorce ten years prior, but then his mother remarried and he didn't like the guy, forcing him to take the decision to move back with his dad and siblings.

"Do you know them? Elyan and Gwennie, I mean," he asked a lot about his brother and sister, explaining that his mum didn't allow him to keep in contact with them very much.

"Gwennie? Remind me to use it against her. Anyway…Morgan, my sister, is your sister's best friend since, well, since I can recall. And Elyan plays football with me in our school's team."

"You play football? I love football!" Gwaine said ecstatic.

The two where then lost in a deep conversation about football teams and European tournaments for the next two hours, to then head back home as best friends.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was finally over. No more waking up at six to get ready, no more falling asleep during classes and, most important of it all, no more Maths. Gwaine ignored the evil looks coming from his younger sister and brother, still looking forward to a good two years of high school, and simply kept yelling and laughing alongside Marlin and Arthur. He was so happy that he didn't see the Frisbee coming his way before hitting him between the eyes; it didn't hurt him, it was only plastic after all, but it still such a surprise that his eyes shut instinctively and his body fell onto the ground. He heard a feminine gasp, but it didn't sound like Gwen. His sister wouldn't have gasped, she would have just smiled a little and then moved towards him to check if he was okay.

"I'm sorry. So, so sorry! I didn't see you standing there and my sister didn't catch it and the Frisbee hit you and I'm sorry!" he opened his eyes slowly, wishing to see who this babbling and high-pitched voice belong to.

In front of him was this blonde, blue-eyed thing putting her hands on his face to check for damages or any sort of injury.

"Are you okay?" she asked helping him up.

"I'm fine, thanks," Gwaine said looking around to see his brother and Arthur and Marlin grinning while staring at the girl.

"I'm Gwaine, by the way."

"Then I'm sorry Gwaine. I'm Vivian."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"You nervous?" Arthur asked while trying to adjust his brother's tie for the tenth time in around twenty minute. He would have screamed, but Arthur guessed that his brother might actually murder him if he dared complaining.

"Never been better," he lied. He had never been more worried than today, not even before his A levels nearly six years ago. He had passed his college interview smoothly, got his first job without trouble, but now he was scared as if someone had been pointing a gun to his head.

"It'll be fine, my boy. I've been through this twice, so I should know," Uther said smiling to the man he had been calling his son for more than ten years now. It made him both happy and sad to see one of his boy go so soon, but he had chosen his path and he had to accept the fact that Marlin was going to have his own family in a few minutes.

"Yeah, listen to dad. He knows." Arthur said, attempting to tease his father just to be welcomed by a scoff and a shrug of the shoulders. "What? Just trying to defuse the tension"

"Do you, Marlin Emrys-Pendragon, take Freya Lewis as your lawfully, wedded wife?"

"I do."

" And do you, Freya Lewis, take Marlin Emrys-Pendragon as your lawfully wedded husband?"

"I do."

That was the day Marlin created his own new family.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Remind me again why I can't kill him?" Morgan asked furiously to a silent Gwen sitting on her bed.

"Because he's your brother, he loves you and your father would make you pay for the funeral," she answered simply picking up the book she had left over three days earlier.

"And also because YOU would kill me for hurting YOUR Arthur," Morgan said grinning while brushing her hair, and watching from the mirror as Gwen glared at her "Ouch! I was just kidding: you'd never kill me."

This time, instead of a horrible look, Morgan was silenced by a flying pillow thrown by the usually kind and loving girl now smiling wickedly.

Elyan hated her, with those blond locks and her deep green eyes and her snarky remarks and her always being so bossy and proud and accomplished. Elyan Leodegrance hated Elena to the core. She always knew what to do and always thought to be smarter then him; they were known all over school for their constant bickering and fighting. No matter what day it was. They would argue way after school time and start again the morning after with new topics, a never ending fight between two identical minds.

Yes, he loved her.

Uther and Hunith looked outside the window to see how everything was doing. Even after all this years, they still called them the children because that's what they would always be to them; they both giggled when Marlin stood up from his chair and started running away chased by Arthur and Elyan followed by the amused looks of the Gwaine and the girls.

Yes, although they were all past twenty, they would always be the children. Their children.


	9. Punches&Fluff&Deals

"What are you doing here?" Marlin asked bewildered.

"Why, Marl, way to greet your old friend," Lance said smiled "But I'm not here to talk to you,"" he then slowly turned towards Arthur "Artie!"

"Lance, to what do I owe the pleasure?" he asked sarcastically while trying to think of a way out.

"Well, a bird told me you set eyes on my woman."

"She's not your woman. Nor mine," he said moving to his brother's left while gently pushing him to the front door.

"These tell me differently," he then reached for a brown envelope tugged into his right pocket and opened it: inside there were pictures, of Arthur and Gwen, to be more precise, while exchanging romantic gestures. Arthur looked at them, shocked, especially when he got to a particularly intimate one that made him reach for Marlin's eyes to cover them.

"How…how did you get these?" he asked when his voice finally decided to collaborate with him. His primary instinct was to throw the pictures in the air and just punch the guy now currently standing in front of him, but, unfortunately, hid step-mum had taught him that violence is not of any use, ever. This time, and this time only, Arthur begged to differ.

"Don't, just don't," Marlin must've sensed his distress and tried to make him cool off.

"Let's say my baby-mummy wanted to know about my leftovers and asked around," Lance explained "Dear little Elaine doesn't like sharing. But, to my surprise, I found out she had already moved on."

"This is none of your business," Arthur said angrily.

"Oh, but Gwen is so much my business: she's my fiancée," Lance remarked.

"Ex-fiancée. You missed your chance when you cheated on her and knocked up your lover," Arthur said " I never liked you, never. You treated her the wrong way and always made her feel lesser than she is. She deserves better."

"And are you better? Oh, please," Lance said teasingly. He started laughing looking at the two brothers, Marlin worried sick and Arthur with his fists tightly closed, lingering on his tights to keep himself from hitting him.

"Had to know she was just a whore: been away a few days and here she is," Lance said, pointing at the picture "Having sex with you."

Arthur could just stare blankly when Marlin punched Lance right in the face. He looked down at the man, trying to understand what had happened and, when he realized, he just beamed and high-fived his little brother.

Half an hour later in Arthur's flat, Marlin was being checked over by Gwen after being punched back by a rather upset Lance. Needless to say, the older Pendragon boy didn't like when a member of his family was hurt, so he paid Lance back until he felt completely satisfied with himself.

"How dares he! After all he's done to me…coming back and attack you," Gwen was furious, which explained why Marlin had quickly left before she reached to dangerous part of her outburst.

Arthur simply watched her pacing back and forth the place hissing and whispering horrible definitions of her former fiancé while plotting some sort of revenge (he would let Gwaine enlighten her about their own ideas). When she crashed on the couch next to her, nearly crying for the rage she was now feeling, Arthur put an arm around her shoulder and forced her into an hug.

"He's a bastard," she said softly.

"My, my Gwennie! This might possibly be the first time I ever hear you cussing!" he said looking down at her, searching on her face for a that simple smile that usually came up when he called her with her brother's nickname.

"I don't like when you call me that," she retorted snuggling deeper into his chest, trying to assimilate all the scent coming from his shirt.

"I know," he simply said kissing the top of her head and dragging her along when he laid down. They stood that way, simply embraced, for what felt like hours, none of them talking but simply enjoying the silence of the moment.

"Freya's pregnant" he tried.

"That's great! Marlin must be really excited," she answered happily and turning to her left to face him after so much time "You're going to be an uncle."

"And you're going to be an aunt."

She grinned and kissed him full on the lips, to then continue with a trail of kissed that lead to a very interesting night.

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July turned into August, and August into September. The Pendragon family, including Gwen and her brothers, were getting ready for the autumnal wedding of Morgan and her long-time boyfriend, Leon.

When he first met the guy, Arthur didn't seem very convinced about the match, mostly because he deeply knew his rather exuberant sister and couldn't believe how she could possibly settle down with the calm, and sometime shy, young man he was now about to call his brother-in-law. But, as many say, opposite attract and he was the living proof of that: he was messy and unorganized and yet here her was, dating the most tidy and organized girl in the world. He had to admit that he had improved since he had started seeing Gwen in a romantic way, she somehow managed to make him better, and he believed to be a quite good influence upon the young woman, too, since she had started to be more out going and exuberant than she had ever been.

Freya and Vivian came waddling into the house, followed by their loving husbands carrying their bags and their magazines, necessary for Morgan's hen party that night. Arthur didn't know what they were up to, but he trusted Gwen to look over his sister and the mum's to be.

"Dad, can we play football?" Gareth. No, Gaheris. No, that was Gareth who had asked.

"Not now lad: your mum needs me," Gwaine answered although seeing his wife staring at him with her patented not-really look.

"Come on, champ, Play with me!" Arthur said picking him up to then do the same with the other twin. They started kicking the ball around just to be admonished by Hunith, who stared worriedly at her hydrangeas. Gwen laughed a bit when Gareth accidently hit Arthur's calf while trying to give a swing to the ball and saw the man's face full of hurt.

"So, when are you going to make an honest man out of my son?" Uther sneaked out from Gwen's back, causing her to jump a little.

"We've only been dating five months," she said.

"And you've been dancing around each other for a long time. Marry him already and give me some more grandchildren," he said grinning "I'm just kidding. But you should give it a thought."

She seemed pensive for quite some time, which caused Arthur to excuse himself from the boy to join her and ask her what was wrong. She smiled softly when he reached for her hand and kissed her on the lips.

"What is it?" he said sitting down on a wooden bench nearby and taking up one of the water bottles his mum had set up for the children to drink.

"Well, your father suggested we got married and started a family," she said playfully, sitting next to him and helping him back to breathing after he analysed what she actually said.

"He suggested….what?" Arthur said after finishing coughing " He can't have!"

"He did!" she laughed "Can you believe it?"

"What would be wrong with that? I mean, I love you and you love me, so what would be wrong?"

"Seriously?" she asked bemused "After my previous experience with engagements and my parents' history I don't think I'll accepting any proposal soon."

"You don't need to be married to have a family…" Arthur said sounding rather hopeful "What do you think? A little brown-haired girl running around the flat with piercing blue eyes and a scary laugh"

"All her cousins running away when they hear her coming," she continued.

"Maybe she'd love football"

"And she could help me look after her father"

"Deal" Arthur said.

"Seriously?" Gwen looked down at Arthur's hand and putting hers into his. 

"Deal."


	10. Spawn of the Devil: Part II

Little Glyndwr William Emrys-Pendragon was born on a sunny day, surrounded by plenty of doctors and nurses and his rather excited father jumping around, making everyone regret letting him in at all. Pacing back and forth in the waiting room was his whole family: his grandparents sitting calmly on a bench, both having been through labour's anxiety in the old days; his aunt Morgan, sporting a great tan after rushing back home from her honeymoon to assist to the joyous arrival, and his newly-acquired uncle Leon; and then his uncle Arthur holding hands with his girlfriend Gwen. Some distant relatives (which were not at all, but were considered part of the family), namely Gwaine and Vivian, were currently too busy having a child on their own and couldn't possibly attend the meeting with the first Pendragon grandchild.

When Marlin, the lucky father, appeared from his wife's room holding a small bundle protected by a thins layer of blue, everyone stood up and smiled coming near the two boys.

"He's beautiful!" Gwen said hugging her friend as good as she could "I wanted to see him before leaving. Elyan texted me saying that our brother fainted and he needs my help! Tell Freya I'm proud of her and that I'll be back soon" she looked once more down at her nephew (being with Arthur allowed her to call little William that), and kissed her boyfriend on the lips before heading to her sister-in-law's delivery room.

"He has your eyes," Hunith said taking her grandson from her son's arm and sitting back on her chair next to her husband to see the new addition of the family in a better way. Morgan and Leon followed and the girl and her father started giving opinions upon the boy's feature.

"Good work, brother," Arthur said hugging his brother, smiling happily.

"Freya did all the hard work," Marlin said exhausted "Isn't he beautiful? I can't believe he his mine."

"Well, you have a son now, my dear brother. Deal with it," Arthur said starting to head for his nephew to rescue him from his sister and father's current fight about his nose "By the way: you know I'm going to spoil him rotten, right?"

"Just as much as I'll spoil your child, brother."

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Isn't he gorgeous?" Elaine cooed holding up her son "Perfect, just like his daddy"

Lance looked at the pair with distant eyes, a spark of love coming through only when he let his stare linger for a few seconds on his son. Galahad, they named him: it was Lance's grandfather's name and he had wanted to honour him by calling his first born after him. Elaine got to pick the second name, Michael... he was to be a great man with such a banal name. But he couldn't stop her, she had, after all, carried him for the whole nine months.

He had heard Marlin and his wife had recently had a baby with his wife and also Gwaine and Vivi had had another addition to the family, another boy. Those two were never able to keep their hands off each other and it didn't surprise him at all when he heard.

Lance also knew that things were going steady between Arthur and his Gwen, Elaine made sure to tell him that she had moved on from time to time, just to be sure that he knew he was stuck with her and their son from now on. He hated when she did that, he regretted every single moment of his new life: he loved Galahad, he was the only good thing that came out from his cheating.

"I need to get Gwen back," was all he could think about.

THREE MONTHS LATER

Life in the household was going back to normal after Morgan and Leon had moved out to their new flat in Liverpool: her father had decided to open a new office there and she had volunteered to go and set it all up. The truth was, Leon wanted to get away from London and have a chance to enjoy his wife for a while without having to share her with her family and she had agreed after some arguing and some extra-steamy make-up sex.

Marlin and Freya had started to settle some sort of routine with new-born Glyndwr, now able to sleep at least four hours per night without waking his parents. They had gently refused his parents' offers for helping them and focused on raising their child as normally as a child with Arthur and Uther as relatives could.

It was all normal to Arthur and Gwen, even the now-rare fights Elyan and Elena had about their new home a few blocks away from them. Their lives were now peacefully uneventful: they would wake up in the morning, snuggling together for around ten minutes until one of the two (usually Gwen) decided they did indeed have to wake up and left to shower. These were usually interrupted by a morning make up session when Arthur would join her and help her wash her hair, Head for work and give their best for it, send some texts to check on the other and sometime meet for lunch.

Then there was dinner time, Gwen's perfect cooking skills showing all around on the table Arthur would lay after changing into his house clothes (shorts and his Arsenal signed t-shirt). Dinner would be spent talking about their day and planning the week-end: they sometimes decided on a little trip in France or an excursion to the seaside house Arthur's mother had bought before leaving. And, other times, they would discuss about their future, their nephews and the fact that, after Morgan and Gwen, no girl was born on either families: although neither Morgan or Elyan or Arthur were married yet, the three members of their group already married all had only boys. They had also found out that even Lance and Elaine had recently welcomed a baby boy. And the fact that all these boys had names starting with the letter G was a curious fact indeed.

"Think about it: first Gaheris and Gareth. Then Glindwr, Gwil and Galahad" Gwen pointed out once "Now we'll have to name ours with a G, too. And we'll be left with George because your sister already played dibs on Gregory when we were ten."

"Who says we're going to have a boy?" Arthur said smiling kissing the top of nose "Plus, I don't think Gregory Pendragon would sound good, so let's leave it to Leon and Morgan."

"Fine," she said "But if all the sex we're having does decide to pay off, then we'll seriously have to think about something."

"Ok. Do you want to decide now? You pick boys, I pick girls, both first and second name," when Gwen left to get some paper and a pencil, he added "And I thought you loved having sex with me!"

She came back and winked. They sat down and started writing down all the names they knew and paired them up with the surname to make sure it had the perfect sound. They spent the next hour doing so and then she threw away the pen happily, yelling "Done."

"Finally. I've been waiting for more than forty minutes," he said getting some water "I thought you'd never make it."

"Forty? I hope our child doesn't come out named Emerald Pearl."

"Ew," was all the response she got "Come on: ladies first!"

"Perfect. I decided to go for something without a G, if it's ok with you," she waited for him to nod in response and continued " Ok, my names are Lleuch and Duran."

"Lleuch Duran Pendragon...it does have a certain sound," Arthur said "Ready for my little princess?"

Gwen smiled at his face, he sounded so convinced they would eventually end up with a girl that he would defy genetics to get what he wanted.

"What about Llyr Emlys?"

"I love it."

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"How long do you think it would take?"

"Not long: you're going to have your fiancée back in less than a month, Mr. DuLac."

"Thank you! I'm sure you'll make it happen fast."


	11. The Luckiest Girl in Town

He sometimes hated being the boss's son, mostly because every one expected so much of him that made him want to scream at least once everyday. Arthur was a successful barrister, he had won almost every casa that had ever been given to him and he was thinking about a change of career: he had always wanted to become a judge, and now was the best time for him to try.

The rest of his life was pretty much perfect in his point of view, too. His long time love interest, Gwen, had moved in with him and they were planning to have a child, his brother had given him an amazing nephew and his sister had recently married with the only bloke he had never had the instinct to kill. Yes, his life was turning out to be awesome.

There still was the minor problem of Gwen's former fiancé, Lance, who had decided to burst back into their lives after ruining his relationship with the girl. Arthur believed he should have just stepped aside, he was a father now and had to take care of both Elaine and their son Galahad, which meant there was no reason for him to interfere. And yet he had tried to contact Gwen in numerous occasions and talk her into giving him another chance. Arthur had to say, he was really proud when she smacked him on the left cheek and closed the door right into his face, heading then back to the kitchen humming happily to finish preparing dinner for them.

Probably his father was right, he shouldn't be thinking about his girlfriend while at work because that only distracted him. Arthur looked down at the hundreds of paper lying on the table, wondering how long it would take him to finish it all and head back to his flat, maybe have a little bath with Gwen and then crush into his bed to never wake up again.

"Got a minute?" Marlin entered his office in his usual manner, not knocking on the door and sitting on the small black couch in the far right corner. He sighed and rested his head on the cushion, closing his eyes while massaging his nose.

"Glyndwr won't make you sleep?" Arthur asked joining his brother.

"Truth to be told, now he sleeps all night, except one little wake up call at four in the morning," Marlin informed him, smiling " It's not Glyn. It's Lance."

"What about him?" Arthur asked reaching for the bottle of water standing on his desk: his father had to make the conditioner work again otherwise he was going to melt down.

"He keeps calling me. And he even tried to contact Freya about Gwen, " Marlin explained "I told dad and he suggested to ask you about some sort of injunction."

"On what grounds?"

"Stalking? I don't know: I'm a notary!" was all he could say " I just want him to stay away from my family."

"I'll come up with something. I swear, I'll make sure Lance doesn't come near you again."

Marlin grinned and thanked his brother with a fist bump. They never were the types for hugs, so they had opted for this sort-of-childish greeting to show their affection for the other.

After practically pushing his brother out, Arthur returned to his papers and finished signing them all as fast as he could: if Lance had gone to Marlin, Gwen would be next and he wanted to be there when he arrived.

"Mary, I'm going home. Postpone my meetings for tomorrow, ok?" he said to his secretary on the way out. He dropped off some files his father would need the next day and went picking up his car from the parking lot.

The car ride was relatively short, one of the good things of living near the workplace. The radio programs usually annoyed him, which explained the presence of a pile of CD's standing on the passenger seat. He had decided for a Queen's greatest hits, his head lulling back and forth, following the rhythm of Bohemian Rhapsody. He loved that song.

He left the car on the ground floor and decided to pick up some dinner for him and Gwen, maybe some pizza and ice cream would cheer them up, at least he needed to be cheered up. Arthur hadn't picked up cash that morning, he had no meeting with the clients and no need to get out of the office; he decided to go to the flat instead of the ATV: if he were lucky enough Gwen would already be back and he could ask her what she wanted for dinner.

Arthur got to the front door, noticing it was open. Maybe Gwen had gone to chat with Moira, their next-door neighbour and forgot to close the door. He entered the house and headed for the moneybox he kept in his bedroom. When he got into the room he hadn't noticed the pot resting on the floor alongside the flowers it used to contain or the books usually piled on the coffee table now all messed up on it. Panic started to get him when he saw Gwen's back still resting on the couch with her scarf and jacket, her wallet clumsily closed; there was no way Gwen would leave the house without her ID card or her phone, still inside her bag. His phone flipped open as soon as he noticed the small black and white photo on the floor.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She sometimes wondered how could she be so lucky.

Gwen Leodegrance never liked to brag, but she really had the most perfect life of them all: she had a job she adored, working with youngsters all day and still getting plenty of time to relax with her friends. Having to say goodbye to Morgan a few months prior had been a hard hit on her, they had been friends since early childhood and she didn't really feel like changing that part of her life. She still had Marlin and Vivian and Freya, but Morgan was her best friend, something that could never be changed.

The positive part of the change had been Arthur. She still couldn't believe they were now dating , she had already started imagining her life with Lance and their dark-featured children running around them. Now her future seemed focused on small blond-haired, fair-skinned little boys playing football around the house; maybe she had to think about something else sometimes, but she did really want to build herself a family. And having it with Arthur was only more appealing.

"Gwen, you have to go. It's nearly three," Fran, her co-worker, whispered trying not to wake the children up from their afternoon nap.

"Already? My my, time really flew! Ok," She said picking up her bag and her phone from the drawer of her desk.

"Good luck!" she said hugging her.

Gwen couldn't help but grin all the way to the doctor. She wanted to have herself checked to make sure there really was the chance for her to have children: his father had once told her it had taken him and her mother years before having a child. She just wanted to know if there was something wrong with her.

The waiting room was a pale shade of pink decorated with small big-toothed bunnies all around, and she had to admit those were seriously giving her the creeps; she blamed her dad for it, him and his love of scaring her with dead rabbits in their restaurant's kitchen.

The nurse was working on something on her computer when she called her name.

Gwen skipped up and down the road holding the medical response the doctor had given her: it was perfect, and she was absolutely ecstatic. She couldn't wait to tell Arthur; but now she had to focus on a nice dinner. Maybe they could go out, have some nice dinner and watch a film in the nearby cinema. Or they could just stay at home and enjoy each other's company.

Without noticing it, she had reached her flat, so she started her quest to find the keys inside her ginormous bag. Somehow they always managed to escape twice before she could finally get a hold of them.

The house was in a mess, as usual when living with someone like Arthur, but it was not the nightmare she had found the first time she ever visited; could it have been seven years already?

Well, she would clean up during the weekend, like always. The scarf joined the jacket on the couch as she positioned the bag on the coffee table.

She heard the door opening behind her and she turned expecting to find Arthur trying to remove his tie, as he usually did whenever he made it home. Instead she found this mouse looking man looking at her, wickedly.

"Well, Mr. DuLac was right: you do look amazing"

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" she said, her voice broken by fear.

"What do we have here, eh?" the stranger said moving swiftly to the living room table " A baby, right?" he asked looking at the small sonogram picture" This won't change the plan"

He rushed to her, Gwen stepped backwards and tried to pick up some heavy object to hit him with: where was Arthur's cricket bat when she needed it? He usually left it around whenever she didn't need it!

"I'm sorry," the man said knocking off the vase Elyan had brought her from Spain a few years back: he was going to kill her for that. Oh, please! There's a man here trying to take you and you worry over a stupid pot?

She tried to punch the guy, but she missed. She turned around, furiously looking for the bat when she suddenly heard a rush of pain on the back of her head. 

The last thing she remembered was spotting blood coming down her skin.


	12. Payback is a Murderous Witch

He was going to kill him. He had played the scene into his mind for the past half an hour: he would put his hands around Lance's neck and gradually start to close them together. His face would turn different shades of purple until his body goes lifeless. Then he would kick the remaining of his life out of him. Although he might have to share the pleasure with either Arthur or Elyan, but Gwaine could get an early start as soon as he got an hold of the very man.

How could he do such a thing? To his sister, nonetheless. If there was a thing Gwaine Leodegrance was not, he was not calm, especially when someone dared touching his family.

"They'll find her," Marlin kept reassuringly repeating to his brother, now currently sitting on the couch with his head resting on his head. Gwen had been gone for nearly two days and Arthur hadn't had one hour of sleep: they had all tried to force him into resting, even his father and mother had come back from the countryside to help out, and yet there had been no way to convince him.

"Mate, it's going to be okay."

"It's not going to be okay, okay?" Arthur burst out "That creep took my girlfriend and MY baby because he made the mistake of fucking up."

All the boys had been astonished, for they'd never heard Arthur cussing, not even once since they had known him. He took a look at them all and simply left the room. They couldn't possibly understand what he was feeling right now, not when the love of his life and their unborn child were currently missing, kidnapped by a nutter like Lance.

He wandered around the city for what it felt like ages, his head down while he came up with a plan to get Gwen back home, and another one to torture the bastard when they had found him.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was dark and cold. Her hands were tied around her back and her eyes covered by some sort of itching piece of fabric that smelled like rotted cabbage. Her head rested on the wall, her legs crumpled under her weighty after hours of standing and screaming. The smell surrounding her reminded her of the old house she used to share with her family before her mum left, a smell of old and rust that used to knock the senses out of her. She must've been somewhere isolated for she hadn't heard cars since her arrival, but solely a lone barking dog in the distance and what sounded like a train. Lance surely had planned it for months, he always been a perfectionist. And she loved that about him: he was the one planning everything, taking control when trouble came and thought of a resolution. That was also what she had been happy to get rid of once she realised he had only been holding her off.

But the past didn't matter now, Gwen only wanted to go home and slip into her bed, her head on Arthur's chest while he talked about their future, the baby coming and all the stupid talk that was her life with him: she wanted her life back and she wanted it now.

"Hello, sweetie," she knew that voice. She had loved that voice for so long and she could stand it no more. Not after all the pain.

"Let me go home."

"But Gwennie" Lance whispered in her ear causing her to shiver, disgusted "You are home. With me."

"Arthur's my home. And Marlin. And my brothers."

"Oh, surely you don't mean it. Plus, that's my baby you're carrying."

"You are insane! This is my baby. Mine and Arthur's: I could never ever have a child with you," she said, her voice rising enraged "You make me sick!"

The first slap came unexpected. Then a second and a third soon followed.

"That's my child. End of," he said angrily removing the blindfold from her now crying eyes "Don't cry darling. I'm here now."

"I'm sorry. You are right. But what of Elaine? And Galahad?" Gwen knew the only chance she had was to play along.

"She's such a stupid woman. She'll give me full custody and we'll live with our sons."

"What if it's a girl?" she asked while he removed the rope from her wrists. It took her a while to reconnect with her plan: her hands were finally free and she wanted to restart the circulation of her blood.

"Nonsense: my family has had boys for generations. We'll have one too."

She looked at him, this horrible sort of man standing in front of her coming nearer to caress her stomach; this man blinded by foolishness that was acting like a psychopath. She didn't feel any form of compassion, no mercy would come from her to the man that had wanted to take her and her child from their rightful spot in this world. The only feeling coming from Gwen Leodegrance was an impressive sense of pride towards her karate's black belt.

She knocked him down in two moves: first the crotch, second the nose. The pain would blind him for enough seconds to help her escape, and then she would have to run for her life: she should've listened to Morgan all those years ago, when she advised her to take up running. You never know when it could come handy.

Fine, she had been right, but she wasn't going to tell her such thing once back home. Her best friend felt a questionable pleasure when saying I told you so. Especially to her.

She had been right, though. Lance had had the great idea to take her out of town, somewhere with lots of trees and a large lake.

"There are no lakes in London...not this big," she murmured once she reached the road. She read the sign: Coppermill Road. Nowhere she knew. There were cars passing and luckily one of them decided to stop to check if she was okay: her face was covered in dirt, she had been sweating because of the long run, but she kept going for around twenty minutes to make sure Lance hadn't followed her.

"Hospital. I'm pregnant," she said before collapsing into the arms of her saviour.

58 hours. 58 hours before someone contacted him and Gwaine to tell them Gwen had been found. Arthur had been walking under the rain until his brother found him and dragged him back home, shoved him into the shower and forced him to get into dry clothes. He had just crashed onto the couch when his phone rang and that stupid DI he had wanted to kill told him proudly that his girlfriend had been admitted to the Royal Marsden hospital and he was expected go there and take her home as soon as the doctor said she could. No need to say, Arthur rushed to his car followed by a stumbling Marlin on his back, phone in hands and a panicked look on his face.

"She's fine and so is the baby. But it would be best if she rested for a few weeks, not to risk losing the child. She'll have to take some medications for a few days and then she'll be back to normal," the doctor told him as soon as he inquired about her condition. He profusely thanked him and entered Gwen's bedroom, leaving his brother behind to wait for the rest of the family.

"Hello, beautiful," Arthur said smiling down and Gwen, reaching for a chair to sit next to her bed "How are my favourite girls in the world?"

"Exhausted," she answered truthfully. Her head was spinning and aching, something she seriously did not like. Gwen hated been sick. She looked lovingly at Arthur caressing her belly and looking as if expecting something.

"What is it?"

"Nothing," he said quickly" You just didn't correct me when I said girls."

"Trust me: this one has to be a girl. Her daddy deserves it."

He kissed her without asking: if her mind had changed about the baby then something had really upset her and all he wanted was to keep her calm and quiet. She needed it.

They kept silent for a while, Gwen with her eyes closed enjoying the comfort of her pillow and Arthur's hand circling on hers, creating small patterns that made her shiver deep down.

The calm lasted for almost an hour, that was the time her brothers and father had decided before bursting in and start questioning about her health and congratulating for the baby. When Morgan hushed them all and stepped forward to hug her, Gwen started crying , realising that what had happened to her must've really been bad if Morgan had decided to come back. Lance deserved to be punished for the tears rolling down her best friend's face: since childhood, Morgan had been the strong one, the fighter, the one keeping her feelings hidden inside to keep up with the cold hearted character she had created for the outsiders.

"We'll make him pay for it," she said confidently "Won't we Arthur?"

"Oh, Arthur's help won't be necessary" Hunith said caressing her son's face "Dad's already working on it, my dear."

And every single one of them, especially the Pendragon's children, knew that Lance stood no chance, for no one dared touching Uther's family without paying the consequences. No one.


	13. And all that I can Feel is Love

Flowers. Check.

Dresses. Check.

Shoes. Check.

Horrible three-years old running around you. Check.

Very pregnant matron of honour AND first bridesmaid. Check.

Yes, it all seemed perfect for her special day. Except for her: she was supposed to leave the flat in one hour sharp and she was still wearing her bathrobe. 

Morgan was going to chase her, although waddle seemed to be the best verb to describe her best friend's current ability to move. She smiled imagining herself being chased by Morgan carrying an axe and then stopping to calm down while keeping to insult her; she could see her best friend turned into a cartoon, wearing her ridiculously expensive, purple, maternity dress she had wanted so badly (she even got on her knees, just to then beg Vivian and Freya to help her up again).

Gwen silently walked to the door and opened it to check on the situation outside her bedroom. Obviously chaos was currently ruling all around, teddy bears could be found on the floor surrounded by loads and loads of children's drawings. She should remember to never have all the children and the flat, ay least not all together: Gareth and Gaheris were now seven and their troublemaking abilities had just increased through the years; Glyndwr and Gwil had made it to three without any particularly big brain damage (a part from being members of the huge Pendragon household) and Morgan and Leon had had little Gregory a little over nine months after Gwen had given birth.

As for Arthur and Gwen, things had gone fairly easy after Lance had been brought to justice: she still had to go through the process and witnessing, but he had finally gotten the worst of it. Twenty years in jail and the loss of his guardianship over young Galahad, who now called daddy a better man.

It wasn't long before childbirth came for Gwen and, after barely three hours in a pretty yellow-ish hospital room, young Llyr Emlys Pendragon came to life, already making her daddy proud for being a girl.

She was now two and she was also the calmest girl her parents had ever seen, although nobody could save them from a few tantrums she threw at them kindly: but with her pretty light brown curls, icy-blue eyes and her mother's smile, Arthur hardly noticed and punished her by forbidding her to have ice-cream after dinner (and then giving her an extra chocolate cookie whenever her mother decided to turn around).

"Mummy, look: ain't I pretty?" a small bundle of white fluff entered the room to then reveal her little Llyr all dressed up in her flower-girl dress. She picked it up personally, opting for a white dress decorated by a single green bow around her waist and a small crown of buttercups on her head. If she hadn't been late for her own wedding, Gwen would have cried.

"You are beautiful!"

"No time for tears, mummy," Morgan entered the room picking Llyr up and settling her on the bed, then headed to the small wardrobe holding the wedding dress and concluding her movements by taking control of Gwen's wrist and dragging her into the bathroom.

Vivian managed to her hair while Freya and Morgan battled to make her fit in into the dress, laughing all the way at the clumsiness their bellies created.

"You are the most beautiful bride I've ever seen," Morgan praised once they were done.

"Liar," Vivian said "We all know you were the most beautiful: I was pregnant with the twins and Freya had a red nose because of her stupid allergies."

"Just trying to be nice," Morgan smiled wickedly "Plus, loo at her: she still is radiant. Arthur will definitely swoon."

"He always does when he sees his girls," Freya added smiling when Llyr came inside and settled on her mother's lap. No matter what Arthur told her, their daughter was the spitting image of her father and Gwen couldn't help but notice it whenever holding her: the frown of her eyes when not understanding, the small smirk lightening her face when she had something planned. Even her movements were her father's. And Gwen didn't want it any differently.

"We have to go, now, or we'll be late," Vivian said drying a small tear coming down her cheek "I'll go get the girls, you get her into the car."

"I'm not a package, you know?" Gwen said smiling at her friends and putting her little girl down on the floor. She had to stop when Llyr took hold of her hand and asked with her tiny finger for her mum to squat and put her ear near her small mouth, something she often did when the girl wanted to ask something she didn't want others to hear.

"You are marrying daddy, right?" she asked worriedly.

Gwen couldn't help but laugh. No matter how many times they had told her, she still wanted to be reassured about the upcoming marriage.

"Of course I am, sweetie."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Breathe, mate" Gwaine said grinning "My sister is still marrying you."

That didn't seem to help Arthur calm down: the wedding was supposed to start...twenty minutes ago. He did get the fact that the bride had to be late, but not THAT much, for sure. Around him, all the male members of his family seemed to be rather calm. They all had been through the wedding ceremony; damn, his father even twice, yet he couldn't understand why he was the only nervous one.

"I swear, Arthur, if you don't sit down, I will hit you," Marlin said gritting his teeth. With that threat coming from his usually-pacific brother, Arthur decided he might've been overly exaggerating and decided to simply crash on the first chair he sat eyes on.

When the door opened he stood up as fast as he could, but then sat down again when he realised it was only Tom coming back from the trip to the bathroom. But then the door opened again and Arthur felt calm wash over him when his beautiful little girl ran towards him to stop abruptly against his knees. Elyan and Gwaine smiled down at their niece while her father scooped her up and kissed her temple.

"We're leady."

"Ready, hon. Ready," Arthur corrected beaming.

"'s the same," she answered hugging her father around the neck "I uncle Mallin."

"Hello, princess," Marlin said to his niece, using the small pet name he had used for her since her birth "You look beautiful."

"You should see her mum: I had a sneak peek coming back from changing this little man," Tom said handing a little baby to Marlin "I should really go and see if she's ready."

He left the room and Llyr got down from her father's embrace to move towards her uncle and the baby.

"Hellu, blothe,r" she said kissing the boy's cheek.

"You sure you want to carry Lleuch and hold her?" Elyan asked fixing his tie back in place.

"Yep," Arthur said picking up the baby from his brother's arms "Come to daddy, peanut."

Llyr seemed upset when her father focused on her little brother but then he hold out his hand for her to take. Gwen and him had been planning the wedding for months now, with Morgan's help obviously, and he had stated since the beginning that he wanted the children to escort him: his daughter had heard of the plan and seemed ecstatic, so much that she had even accepted to share her moment of fame with her baby brother.

So here they were, three Pendragons walking down the aisle of a rather small church in Wales to legally welcome the fourth member of their task force: the mum. Llyr grew fast tired of standing by her father's side and decide to join her cousins next to her grandmother: at least she could play with them. Her brother hadn't seemed to be able to do such thing, and he was now four months old. How could he not play after four months Llyr did not know.

Arthur had soon been joined by his best man, brother and best friend and her wife-to-be's overprotective big brothers; when her asked them to be by his side during the wedding they had said that was meant to be their place: if Arthur was to suddenly change his mind, both Gwaine and Elyan had to force him into staying. Nobody could leave their sister at the altar.

So he stood, waiting for his fairytale princess to finally join him as his wife, as his equal companion throughout life. He had waited years to finally call her his (but, please, not a world to her) and now the moment had arrived.

She looked radiant, a huge smile on her face and he could swear she was trembling. He was too. They had asked the priest to cut the ceremony short, they only wanted to call each other man and wife, so their vows hadn't taken long to be pronounced and the tears from the two very hormonal friends of the bride were soon shed and dried.

Even the reception had been cut short: just a few sandwiches and some champagne, and then off for a week-long honeymoon in Florence. No children, kindly welcomed by her father and his partner; no murderous brothers hiding in the corner and no dram, not for a week. It would be the two of them alone.

They did doze off on the plane to Italy, but it was only because they had taken up the habit to fall asleep whenever Lleuch decided to give them a moment of peace. They soon reached their hotel and...

Slept some more.

**Author's Note:**

> First published in 2011 on FF.net. Since then I've – hopefully – improved in both writing and doing so in English. Like all my other works this is unbeta-ed, therefore constructive criticism is appreciated, and welcomed.


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